Rosario Dawson Defends Rihanna

Vixen

While we all may be too aware of the love-hate, on-again, off-again saga that is Rihanna and Chris Brown (especially during their latest rendezvous in New York City), critics of the duo are strongly accusing the “Diamonds” singer of experiencing the emotional syndromes of a victim, of which they cannot let go of their abuser. Yet, actress Rosario Dawson, who is the spokeswoman for National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October, recently spoke out about the pop star’s romantic behavior with ex-flame Chris Brown.

“Had [she] not been a victim of domestic violence, we probably wouldn’t be holding her feet to the fire to stand up for it,” Dawson says. “Support is the critical part of it, not having criticism, not being judgmental towards people. I’m not going to blame the victim in this situation. I’m sure being berated for not doing something is not necessarily going to make it happen better or more. It prevent other people in the future who might be publicly exposed for being in a domestic violence situation–that’s going to prevent them from stepping up as well”.

What Dawson wants Rihanna fans to understand is that it is up to the 24-year-old self-proclaimed bad girl to decide how to handle her interaction with Brown. It’s a process to move forward from such harrowing episodes. At the same time, it is important for anyone dealing with such issues to seek help and comfort, as we should also recognize the facts. Dawson also insists that people need to take responsibility for their own actions, and to try recognize real signs of trouble.

The situation is complicated the deeper one looks into it. Hopefully whatever Rihanna feels is right won’t lead her, or Chris Brown, down another path of unfortunate circumstances. Vixens, how would you help a friend or relative in a similar conundrum?–Carmen Shardae Jobson